It may not be the most trophy-laden rivalry or even the most prestigious in the UK – but few fixtures can match the Wear-Tyne tussle for controversy.

Mark Douglas has counted down 17 of the biggest talking points – and picked his top seven (with reasons) in the gallery above.

Pitch invasion at St James’ Park causes the game to be called off

When North East football observers call for a return to the good old days of mutual respect and understanding, perhaps they’d be best pointed in the direction of this 1901 encounter. Sunderland were playing Newcastle for only the eighth time but this will go down in derby history as the game that never was.

The Wearsiders had a chance of winning the title and that ramped up interest – local estimates were that 70,000 turned up despite St James’ Park only holding 30,000 at the time. Fans spilled onto the pitch, the 25 policeman on duty couldn’t control it and a riot ensued. The match, unsurprisingly, was abandoned.

Newcastle were found guilty of failing to control the crowd and had to pay the costs of the inquiry and relinquish their share of the gate to local charities.

Stan Anderson swaps SAFC for NUFC

Anderson paved the way for the likes of Bob Moncur, Michael Chopra and Jack Colback, who have played for both in derby games. After 11 years as a Roker icon, he moved to Newcastle in 1963 and had two fine years playing for United – but it was not without controversy.

The Sunderland favourite played more than 400 times for his boyhood club but when he handed in a transfer request, Newcastle – then in the second division – were the only takers. He admitted his wife burst into tears when he told her of the impending move – and Anderson feared he would be booed every week at St James’ Park.

But he was a soaraway success on Tyneside and it was Sunderland boss Alan Brown who copped most of the flak for selling him.

2. The away fan ban (1996)

The away fan ban

The 1996/7 season was arguably the darkest in Tyne-Wear derby history.

For the police and two clubs to get together and ultimately prevent Sunderland and Newcastle fans from going to the opposite ground was a low for football in the region. It spoke of a lack of trust and also allowing security fears and low expectations of fan behaviour to triumph over the vast majority who just want to support their side.

Having originally barred away fans from Roker Park, the decision was rolled back. But by then, Newcastle had sold tickets for a beam back and refused the offer of 1,000 away fans.

United’s chief executive Freddie Fletcher helped to stoke the fires by bemoaning the state of Roker Park, saying: “When you’ve got a ground like Roker Park, you’re bound to have problems.”

What transpired was arguably the worst ever derby atmosphere. It must never be repeated.

Jack Colback’s move

Sunderland’s social media posting when Colback moved belied the frustration and anger at the Stadium of Light at him swapping Wearside for Tyneside.

The Black Cats didn’t want him to leave and made several pitches to him – but Newcastle, who knew he was a boyhood United fan, spied a bargain and nipped in front of West Ham to take him.

A quiet, unassuming man off the pitch, he was an unlikely lightning rod for red and white anger. He can expect another fiery reception when Newcastle visit the Stadium of Light on Saturday.

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Paul Hardyman nearly taking Burridge’s head off

The stakes have rarely been higher in a Wear-Tyne tussle: a place in the first division was at stake over two legs in this play-off semi-final.

The games themselves were desperate fare: bad-tempered and horrible affairs marred by crowd trouble at St James’ Park.

Paul Hardyman was the worst offender, seeing his penalty saved by John Burridge and then following up with a dangerous kick to the goalkeeper’s head. He was sent off, quite rightly.

Cheick Tiote’s red card

Tiote saw red at the Stadium of Light in 2012 and Newcastle held out for 82 minutes with ten men. The midfielder’s high tackle was argued over afterwards but it looked fair enough at the time – and Tiote’s disciplinary record hasn’t improved much since.

7. Steven Taylor saying he'd rather collect stamps (October 2012)

Steven Taylor’s stamp collecting

Who let Steven Taylor near a microphone the week before the derby? In the world of sanitised media interviews Taylor lit a stick of dynamite under the derby by stating he’d rather collect stamps than play for Sunderland – and asserting that not one Black Cat would get in the Newcastle side.

Fair play to him for letting his real feelings be known, but it hardly cooled Tyne-Wear tensions. Alan Pardew wasn’t happy and as it turned out, he was on the bench.

Hardly a favourite with Sunderland beforehand, he was afforded an even tastier reception when he warmed up in front of the home fans.

The horse punch

The way Sunderland fans reacted to the tragic deaths of Liam Sweeney and John Alder marked a new era in Tyne-Wear football relations but before then, off-field nastiness had started to creep back into the fixture.

Trouble flared in the city centre following Newcastle’s 3-0 defeat – and the violence is best remembered for the attack on police horse Bud by United fan Barry Rogerson, who was subsequently jailed for 12 months.

Joey Barton on the touchlines

Barton, not long out of prison, was a powder-keg personality back in 2008. He had only just served a six-match ban when Joe Kinnear controversially included him as a substitute for a trip to Wearside.

He was abused as he warmed up and responded by kissing his Newcastle badge, which hardly helped matters. United lost that game 2-1 but Barton has continued to goad Sunderland fans on social media. It’s safe to say he’s unlikely to follow former team-mate Kevin Nolan to Wearside.....

Alan Pardew versus Martin O’Neill

Alan Pardew admitted he needed to “grow up” after he fronted up to O’Neill during a volcanic and memorable 2012 match.

Newcastle were heading for what was then a rare home defeat to Sunderland when they won a penalty, which caused Pardew to taunt his opposite number. The spot kick was missed but Pardew’s blushes were spared by a late Shola Ameobi goal.

Asked if he was going to join Pardew for a post-match drink, O’Neill acerbically replied that he’d be jumping on the bus instead. There was little love lost between the two men.

Ruud Gullit drops Shearer & Ferguson

Has there ever been a bigger managerial call in this fixture?

Kevin Ball said that when the team sheet arrived in the Sunderland dressing room it was like going a goal up before kick-off. Gullit’s power struggle with Shearer was an open secret and when he dropped the United number nine, he needed his team to respond.

Instead it was the Black Cats who, in monsoon-like conditions, prevailed. Gullit resigned three days later.

Steven Taylor’s dive

Sunderland had ended a long wait for a victory at the Stadium of Light and were on course to do the double when Taylor took a rather theatrical tumble in the February 2009 fixture at St James’ Park.

Shola Ameobi dispatched the penalty but the Black Cats nursed a justified greivance against Taylor for his dive. The defender insisted it was a penalty but looking at the footage, it’s a difficult case to make.

6. 9-1 and all that (1908)

9-1 and all that (1908)

Newcastle were down to nine men but still, they have never suffered a derby defeat like this one. It’s still the heaviest defeat in this fixture (not Newcastle’s worst ever, a 9-0 reverse against Burton Wanderers takes that crown) and is made all the stranger for United going on to win the title that day.

Michael Chopra and the conspiracy

It was the stuff derby day legends are made of: boyhood Newcastle fan Michael Chopra in red and white, clean through with four minutes left and facing a shot at immortality at St James’ Park. Yet with heroic status on Wearside beckoning he opted to pass – and badly at that – to Kenwyne Jones.

The conspiracy theorists said he did it on purpose, something Chopra – and his friend Steven Taylor – denied.

“Bottler? No way, never,” Taylor later said of Chopra. “He had that chance for Sunderland, but every striker misses chances or makes the wrong decision. It was unfair to blame him for that.

“It was against Newcastle, but if it had been against another team, they (Sunderland’s fans) would have just forgotten about it. Remember, with his background, it was a big risk for him going to Sunderland after Cardiff, but he had wanted to play football and establish himself.”

He didn’t last much longer at Sunderland – he joined Cardiff 24 hours later on loan.

Julio Arca injures Alan Shearer

Arca was absolved of blame for the knee injury that ended Shearer’s career and his classy apology after the event helped defuse any tensions after the game.

But still, the irony attached to Shearer playing his final game at Wearside can’t be ignored. Another controversial moment of many.

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Lee Cattermole lays down a marker

Hard to recall it now, but there was a time when Newcastle dominated this fixture.

Under O’Neill Sunderland were bidding for their first St James’ Park win for more than a decade and needed someone to snap them out of their derby inferiority complex.

Back in 2012 Cattermole was the man as he launched into a reckless early challenge that set the tone for a tempestuous game. It was naughty, but sometimes mastering the dark arts gives you a derby advantage.

Lee Clark’s t-shirt

Not a derby memory as such, but Lee Clark sporting that infamous derogatory t-shirt was certainly one of the most controversial moments in this rivalry.

Instantly transfer-listed by Sunderland, it passed into derby folklore. Clark had played well for Sunderland during his spell at the Stadium of Light but subsequently said he couldn’t imagine playing against Newcastle in red and white. He’s since spoken of his regret.